It's always fascinating to see how NFL sausage is made: Sound FX and NFL replays do just that. There's a particularly interesting nugget from Sunday's Super Bowl that occurred in between "The Drop" by Wes Welker and "The Catch XLVI" by Mario Manningham.

Bill Belichick, talking to the Patriots defense, told them how to handle pass protection. He wanted them to bottle up Giants wide receivers Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks and "make 'em go to Manningham."

"This is still a Cruz and Nicks game," Belichick said on the sideline. "I mean, I know we're right on 'em. It's tight. But those are still the guys. Make 'em go to Manningham. Make 'em go to Pascoe. Alright? Let's make sure we get Cruz and Nicks."

You know how this works out, right? Not well: Eli Manning slung a teardrop towards the Patriots sideline that Manningham somehow managed to real in ... right in front of Belichick. Belichick challenged and lost.

Thought not for any real fault of either Belichick or his defensive backs. Manning got what he admitted was a bad look at Manningham (after he looked to Cruz and Nicks, who were covered) and just made an unbelievable throw into an unbelievably tight window. I can still see the ball in the air when I try to envision it. There's no way he should've completed that pass.

There was plenty of blame to go around In the hours and days following the Patriots loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI. For the most part, it seemed like a collective knee-jerk reaction from media and fans (and family members) not accustomed to losing. Of course, this is what happens when the hometown team wins three Super Bowls in five seasons and Tom Brady begins his postseason career by going 10-0.

But it wasn't Gronkowski's lack of production, or even that he didn't battle Giants linebacker Chase Blackburn for a Brady arm punt that became an interception that upset his critics. It was his after-game exploits that got some folks worked into a lather.

In case you missed it, Gronkowski, along with teammate Matt Light, were spotted dancing (topless, no less!) at an Super Bowl party hours after the game.

Scandalous, we know.

(If the sarcasm dripping off that last sentence isn't obvious enough, we'll just repeat what we said on the Pick-6 Podcast: what's Gronkowski supposed to do? Sit in his room and cry himself to sleep? Will that make him a better player for the Pats' next game in six months? No? So what's the problem then?)

This makes no difference to NBC analyst and former Patriots safety Rodney Harrison, who is very upset with Gronk's decision to gyrate his hips after a loss.

“I guarantee you this, if Willie McGinest, Tedy Bruschi, Larry Izzo, Richard Seymour or myself had been at that party, [Gronkowski] probably would have got his head rung,” Harrison told ESPN 1000 in Chicago (via PFT). “There’s no reason for that to happen.”

Oh god. Nothing like an old-timer invoking old times. Yes, Rodney, we know. You had to walk 10 miles to practice, uphill each way, you didn't have shoes and it always snowed.

(Worth mentioning: back in September, the aforementioned Bruschi happily called out Chad Ochocinco for tweeting. We have yet to hear his mock outrage over Gronkowski blowing off steam early Monday morning.)

Harrison wasn't done.

“When we lost the Super Bowl, any of my Super Bowl losses, I was so devastated the last thing I ever wanted to do was party, let alone dance or take off your shirt,” Harrison said. “It’s just immaturity. It’s not right. He made a mistake and I’m sure he feels absolutely stupid about it at this point. There’s a time and place for everything.”

Rodney's right: there is a time and place for everything. Time: after the season is over -- check. Place: party where music is played and dancing is encouraged -- check.

Brady completed 20 of 24 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns (this includes breaking Joe Montana's Super Bowl record for consecutive completions) before Tuck got a hold of him. He was 7 of 17 for 75 yards with an interception afterwards.

At the time, we figured Brady had aggravated a left shoulder injury and that, in part, had something to do with the abrupt drop-off in production. That Brady slowly made his way to the bench and was surrounded by team doctors as they checked him out (not to mention the sight of Brian Hoyer getting loose) only confirmed the suspicions.

Well, on Wednesday, the Boston Herald's Ian Rapoport shared what he knows:

Brady landed hard on his left shoulder, aggravating the sprain from earlier in the season. The key word is “sprain.” This is the same injury that forced him to miss a practice during the AFC Championship week, an ailment he needed to manage. The aggravation didn’t lead to major injury, though, and Brady did not need to come out of the game for treatment. It also is not believed to be the kind of injury that will need to be dealt with much in the offseason.

After the game, one in which Brady sat dejected at his locker for a very long time, he finally spoke about the play that probably decided the outcome: the Brady-to-Welker throw-that-wasn't with four minutes left in the fourth quarter.

"Wes was running down the field and it looked like they messed the coverage up a little bit and I threw it to him," Brady said. "(Welker) went up to try and make it, as he always does, and we just couldn't connect. He's a hell of a player. I'll keep throwing the ball to him for as long as I possible can. He's a phenomenal player and teammate and I love that guy."

"The ball is right there," Welker said when asked if he was looking for it on the other shoulder. "I've just got to make the play. It's a play I've made a thousand times in practice and everything else. It comes to the biggest moment of my life and I don't come up with it. It's discouraging."

It's not crazy to think that Peyton Manning could've been jealous after watching his younger brother Eli Manning win a Super Bowl at Peyton's home stadium in Indianapolis. But Peyton says he's not and that he "couldn't be happier" for Eli.

"I couldn't be happier for Eli, prouder of Eli," Peyton said. "I want nothing but the best for him. I think he will continue to win more Super Bowls. There is no envy whatsoever in our relationship. He deserves this."

Peyton was asked if there might be a bit of one-upmanship taking place with their relationship, now that Eli has two Super Bowl rings and Peyton "only" has one. But he insisted that's not the sort of dynamic that goes on in the Manning family.

"Eli and I don't play that game," Peyton said. "The relationship of Eli, Cooper and I is not about trying to rub it in or anything like that. It's about love, nothing but love."

We wrote after the game that, regardless of what Peyton says, it still stinks to see your little brother with more Super Bowl wins than you. And we still believe that. But at the same time, it's not like Peyton's endured some horrible NFL career, floundering in Eli's shadow.

If anything, Peyton's probably thrilled that the world's ready to take Eli out of his shadow; if there's one thing that male siblings understand even more than a rivalry, it's protecting one another.

Eli's safe from criticism for quite a while now. In fact, his only concern might be getting asked too often what Peyton will do in the future.

Earlier on Wednesday, we brought you the story of Pawngo, an online pawn shop company that decided to have a little fun with Boston-area sports fans by dumping some Butterfingers addressed to Wes Welker in the middle of the city. This was designed to make fun of "The Drop" during the Super Bowl.

As you might expect, Patriots fans were just thrilled to be mocked less than 36 hours after the Super Bowl. Wait, what's that? Oh right. Sorry, they got really, really angry about the whole thing. So much so that Pawngo CEO Todd Hills wrote an apology.

"As a die-hard sports fan, I would like to sincerely apologize for a misguided and misdirected stunt that we did yesterday in Boston," Hillis wrote Wednesday. "In delivering a pile of Butterfinger bars to Copley Square in Boston, and a sign referencing Wes Welker, we were making a lighthearted gesture following Sunday’s hard fought game. We thought that Boston fans would get a laugh out of it. But, for many great Boston sports fans, it was taken offensively. Please accept my most sincere apologies.

"We got caught up in the moment, reacting to a suggestion that we thought would be funny, but we were wrong, and on behalf of everyone involved with Pawngo, I apologize."

Hills effort is noble, but he quite clearly has no idea about the Boston sports fan demographic. A written apology isn't going to satiate their bloodlust.

Well, at least not before a bunch of them became aware that Groupon, the massive online-coupon company, and Pawngo share investors. Such a realization resulted in a little bit of anger directed at Boston Groupon on Twitter, which resulted in a little bit of corporate speak apology from them:

"She needs to continue to be cute and shut up," Jacobs said, when asked about Gisele's comments.

Soooooo. I guess we know where Jacobs won't ever be playing, huh? Actually, although Jacobs comments are technically "rude," and certainly out of line, it's his delivery -- and not the message -- that needs tweaking. He just could've phrased things better, like his teammate Osi Umenyiora.

"That’s her husband," Umenyiora said. "I mean she’s supposed to stay out of things like that. But at the end of the day that’s their relationship and she has the right to say whatever she wants to."

That's the thing; it's not like this is a "women have their place" issue, although Jacobs makes it sound that way with his comments. It's just a "don't create a rift between your husband the quarterback and the rest of the team by screaming about how bad they suck to fans and reporters" thing.

It doesn't do anyone any good for the wife of the quarterback to come out and take shots at the quarterback's targets, since it really only serves to recreate a scene out of a sports movie. The results are, almost always, a rift between the quarterback and his teammates.

Except there's usually a few more games to sort their issues out and win the big game.

So he's probably not going to take a stunt from Pawngo very well: the Denver-based pawn shop company decided to dump thousands of Butterfingers candy bars in Boston's Copley Square with a note.

"Thank you Wes Welker," the note read.

So, yeah, it really makes no sense. We get the "joke," but why are they thanking Welker? Because they got to give away candy? Because the Denver-based Broncos beat the Giants for the Super Bowl? Perhaps it's because their PR firm, 5W Public Relations, was in charge of the stunt and resides in New York?

Maybe that's the logic here, but why wouldn't they sign the note from 5W Public Relations? Did Pawngo authorize this? Why did Pawngo authorize this? It's not like by goofily burning Boston-area sports fans they're going to get any business in New England.

And it's not like New Yorkers, in a rush to appreciate someone being rude, are suddenly only going to do their pawn shopping at Pawngo.

Pawngo CEO Todd Hills released a statement where he said he "thought Boston fans might at least get a laugh out of it."

HaHA! Sigh. Sorry, Todd. Now Pawngo is just "that annoying company who tried to make Boston sports fans mad by giving them free candy." Fortunately they were fined by the city for commercial dumping.

The Giants are champs, the Pats are left wondering where it all went wrong, and the 2011 NFL season is officially in the books.

After a whirlwind week of press conferences, Media Day, red-carpet events and, of course, the Super Bowl, we recap our eight days in sunny, temperate Indianapolis (seriously, the only thing better than the weather was the hospitality).

We start off by talking about the pass -- you know, the one that Wes Welker couldn't pull in and that probably changed the outcome of the game. We also discuss Tom Brady's suddenly tarnished legacy. Somehow, a three-time Super Bowl winner has gone from hero to goat in 20 minutes of uninspiring football (not helping: his supermodel wife blasting the Pats' receivers for not being able to catch).

And no conversation of Super Bowl week in Indy would be complete without a mention of Peyton Manning and his future, so we hit that too.

Also worth mentioning: we "worked" the Playboy Party Friday night and the highlight of the evening for Brinson was meeting DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. We wish we were making this up.